Wall-based BIO-key International Inc. and IDEX ASA announced Monday that the companies will collaborate to produce a low-cost, multifactor authentication incorporating fingerprint technology for apps in smartphones, tablets and PCs.

According to the announcement, IDEX ASA has been pioneering fingerprint sensing technology, called SmartFinger swipe and touch, for mass market applications since 1997. When combined, the IDEX/BIO-key will provide an accurate and efficient identity assurance both on devices and in the cloud.

“The mobile market is rapidly adopting fingerprint sensors for convenient user authentication, leading to secure payment solutions and opening up opportunities for new identity-based applications. IDEX and BIO-key offer a combined solution for secure user identification, leveraging IDEX’ best in class fingerprint sensors, a new generation of powerful recognition algorithms, together with proven BIO-key secure multifactor authentication software. The combined solution and IP creates the potential for significant value-added services to be developed with market-leading customers,” Dr. Hemant Mardia, CEO of IDEX, said in a recent news release.

Ant Allan, a Gartner analyst, predicted in a recent news release that by 2015, 30 percent of all users accessing corporate networks or high-valued web apps from smartphones/tablets will be using biometric authentication.